


Take a Breath

by Jena Bartley (jenab)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 11:33:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1093411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenab/pseuds/Jena%20Bartley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coulson's team, especially Skye, had worked their way under Melinda's skin, reaching out to parts of her that Melinda had thought died years ago. </p>
<p>Spoilers up to Repairs</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take a Breath

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Maekala](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maekala/gifts).



> Thank you to Alyse and ReginaGiraffe for their awesome beta reading services.

Melinda breathed out, hands and feet flowing into the intricate patterns of Fair Lady Works the Shuttles. 

The familiar moves of Tai Chi grounded her, emptying her mind of everything except the forms and the way her body moved, muscles stretching beneath her skin. 

“Coulson told me you declined to be Skye’s Supervisory Officer.” 

Melinda didn’t stop. She flowed into the next form as Maria Hill wandered closer, to lean against the wall just at the edge Melinda’s peripheral vision. 

“He also told me Ward offered to be her SO.”

Melinda breathed in, squaring her hips. 

“Ward’s an excellent agent but he’s also a lone wolf and has never been a SO before. Given Coulson’s interest in Skye, you’d be the better choice for her. Your last two trainees turned out okay under your training.” 

Red tinged the edge of Melinda’s vision, the industrial grey of the gym shifting to dust and rocks. Blood encrusted under her fingernails. 

Melinda forced herself to continue to breathe steadily, focusing on the next form. She finished the last movements, arms lifting up and flowing down to end the set. 

“I’m not getting into this with you again, Maria. I’m not taking on anyone.” 

Melinda picked up her water bottle, turning to fully face Maria. 

“Melinda...”

“No.”

Maria stepped closer to her, reaching out to touch Melinda’s cheek lightly. 

“You said you’d never go out in the field again, and yet during the last two missions Coulson and his little band have been on you were right there in the thick of things with them.”

Melinda could feel the lingering coolness of Maria’s fingers against her skin. 

“That was different. Coulson gave me no choice but to join his group.” 

Maria only raised her eyebrows. “Despite only being asked to drive the bus, you still went out in the field. And we both know better than that. If you really didn’t want to be part of his team, you had options. None of them involved having to quit S.H.I.E.L.D. either.”

“Maria, drop it.” Melinda tried to keep her tone firm, warning off the other woman, but she could hear the tremble in it. 

If it had been any other person, even Coulson, Melinda would have simply walked away.   
But this was Maria. They’d come up through the ranks together, fought and bled to get where they were in S.H.I.E.L.D. They’d bonded over being women in a male-19 December 2013dominated organization, becoming friends and sometimes lovers. 

Maria was the one person, next to Coulson, that Melinda hadn’t been able to turn away from after everything she’d done. 

Maria only reached out again, cupping Melinda’s face. Melinda closed her eyes against the look in Maria’s eyes. 

Over the years, Maria had been there for her, never pushing the way Coulson did. Instead, she’d become a safe harbour when everything became too much for Melinda. 

She turned her head to kiss Maria’s palm. “Did you come out all this way to just to ask me about being a SO?”

Maria let her change the subject, 

“No. I hitched a ride with the Director to see how you were doing and what Coulson’s been up to given how badly you’ve damaged the bus.” 

She studied Melinda for a moment, before leaning in to kiss her. 

Melinda returned it, hands reaching out to pull Maria against her. If her touch was a little desperate, Maria didn’t say anything. She only pulled back long enough to ensure the gym was locked down.

Melinda let herself get lost in the familiar warmth of Maria’s body and how they moved together. She forgot about the way she always saw her fingertips stained with blood and tasted the tang of copper in her mouth. 

Later, tangled together in Melinda’s bed, Maria leaned against Melinda. 

“She interests you, doesn’t she?”

Melinda didn’t respond. Skye did interest her though her instincts kept telling he the younger woman was hiding something. That meant Melinda was going to be on her guard until she learned what Skye’s secret was. 

It didn’t help that she reminded Melinda so much of herself. 

Before Bahrain. 

 

It turned out that the secret Skye was keeping was the search for her parents, and a redacted S.H.I.E.L.D. file. Coulson requested her assistance in slowing down Skye’s investigation, along with preventing her from learning the truth. 

Skye intrigued her. The way she thought outside of the box and how she’d hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D. twice before being caught. She was warm and compassionate, eager to look out for and defend those who couldn’t do so themselves. Melinda wondered if that was something that had been a result of being raised in an orphanage or a natural part of Skye. 

On top of that, Melinda was impressed by Skye’s instincts. The way a gut feeling at the Hub had led to Skye to deduce no extraction team would be sent after Ward and Fitz. While Skye had broken several orders, she’d been looking out for her team. Something Melinda greatly appreciated. 

Melinda could see why Coulson had recruited her and why he hadn’t thrown her out when they caught her with her boyfriend. She’d also watched as Skye slowly rebuilt the trust of those around her after the revelations, including that of Ward. 

Along with herself. 

Skye drew Melinda’s eyes to her, tracing over the soft curves of her body and the roundness of her breasts. The way she talked to herself when she was deep into hacking through something or how she didn’t back down or run away despite her fears. 

Melinda wanted her. Not just for her body and a few hours of mindless sex. She wanted all of Skye. 

But Melinda wouldn’t let that happen, Taking up the Asgardian spear had only driven home that even more clearly. 

Before Bahrain she would have made a move. Back then she’d been a different person prior to that mission. 

For all the words Coulson had told her and all the looks he’d given her, that person she’d been was gone, willingly killed at her hands to save her teammates.   
There was nothing left of her. No softness or warmth she could give to Skye. No more rules to break. Being on the bus and working on Coulson’s special team wasn’t going to change that. 

But she’d still come when Coulson called. Maria had been right when she’d said that Melinda had options, ones that she’d chosen not to take. 

Somehow this team of Coulson’s had slowly worked their way under her skin, reaching out to parts of her that Melinda had thought died years ago.

On paper they shouldn’t work, a mishmash of science, civilian, dreamers, loners, Coulson and herself. They were jagged edges of different puzzles pieces coming together to form a working whole. 

Yet, as Melinda watched and worked with them, she could see how they meshed together, becoming a strong team. 

It was Fitz and Simmons, the science twins, with their hidden depths of courage in situations they’d never encountered before, that inspired the others. 

Through them, Grant Ward, the quintessential lone wolf, slowly began to open up. Melinda could see how he was learning to enjoy working as part of a team as he looked out for FitzSimmons and volunteered to be Skye’s SO. 

It was Coulson and how he’d changed after dying. This team had only existed on paper for years, both of them knowing it was only a dream. At least until Coulson had been skewered through the heart and decided to toss aside the rules he’d abided by his entire career. Melinda couldn’t help wondering if this Coulson was still considered Nick Fury’s one good eye. 

Skye, despite being a civilian with little training, brought in her compassion and determination, not just to do well, but to make amends for her mistakes. She was the kind of person Melinda would have once dated and loved. She’d started an ache that had settled deep inside Melinda’s heart when Melinda had gone over the redacted file on Skye’s parents

Somehow Melinda fit into this impossible group in ways she never expected. 

Then along came Hannah and her ‘demon’ following on the heels of handling the Asgardian staff. 

Melinda knew Skye was a little afraid of her. She could read it in the way the other woman held herself and the looks Skye kept directing Melinda’s way. It never once had Skye backing down from Melinda whenever Skye disagreed with her. 

In this case it was Skye’s concern over Hannah’s well being. Once Melinda had been where Skye was but now she had her mission to protect her team and keep them safe. Hannah was a threat until proven otherwise. 

As she’d approached the holding cell, she found herself listening in on Skye and Hannah talking about mistakes and forgiveness. About how Hannah believed she deserved her ‘punishment’ for the explosion that killed several of her co-workers. 

Skye has refuted that, talking about how one of the nuns at her orphanage said “God is love” and how Skye liked it. That it meant love was the thing holding people together and how he wouldn’t punish someone for making a mistake but also forgive them. 

Something in the conviction in Skye’s voice had reached deep inside Melinda in a way that Coulson’s words had struggled to do so over the years. 

After everything went down, Skye came to sit in the co-pilot’s seat. Melinda hadn’t said yay or nay when Skye asked permission, but Skye must have seen something in her expression because she’d sat down anyway. 

Melinda went through the routine of take-off and flying, finding herself stealing quick peeks at her companion. The open joy on Skye’s face as they flew through the sky, had warmed Melinda. 

After that first time, Skye came to sit with her in the cockpit more and more often. Sometimes she’d rambled on at Melinda, clearly ignoring how Melinda never replied. Other times she would just sit quietly, starting out at the sky, a look of wonder on her face. 

Sometimes Melinda found herself talking, answering a few of Skye’s questions or just to explain a point Skye was struggling with in her training. 

In her bunk during her rest time, Melinda let her hands wander over her body, imaging how Skye’s skin would feel under her fingers, what she’d tasted like when Melinda kissed her. What kind of sounds would she’d make when Melinda settled between her legs, spreading the lips of her sex open for Melinda to lick and suck. 

Would she be silent or a screamer? 

For years after Bahrain, Melinda hadn’t let anyone in close to her. She didn’t allow herself that pleasure, punishing herself for what she’d done. It had taken a very long time to even let Maria back in her bed. Even then, it hadn’t been like what it was before. 

Sex was something to give her body release and nothing more. That was why she’d slept with Ward, needing an occasional night to bury her memories in the feel of another’s body against her. She just needed the mindless pleasure of two bodies rutting against each other. 

Now she was starting to imagine what it would be like to go beyond that with another person. With Skye. To have a connection beyond the simple need of getting off. 

She and Maria were friends with the additional intimacy of sex. It was good between them and Melinda loved her. 

With Skye, Melinda could see herself falling in love with her. It scared her as much as it excited her. 

Could Melinda forgive herself enough to let her open up to let someone like Skye in? 

 

“Can you show me how to do that?”

Melinda looked over at the doorway where Skye was hovering, not quite inside yet. 

Skye had been hanging around Melinda more often after the Hannah incident. She was still wary and hesitant but Melinda could see that easing the more Melinda didn’t ignore or push her away. 

“I can. Stand in front of me.” 

Skye smiled, a soft upward turn of her lips that tugged at something deep within Melinda. Perhaps Coulson wasn’t wrong and there was still something of her old self buried deep. 

“First movement, Raise Hands.”

Skye mimicked her movements, paying close attention as Melinda introduced her to Tai Chi.


End file.
